KACE Desktop Authority 11.2.1 - Getting Started Guide

Plugins

The Operations Master service is used to manage and configure plugins. Plugins are Desktop Authority provided objects that the Manager uses to perform specific operations. There are a few default plugins that are necessary for Desktop Authority to collect data and report on it. The Operations Master service object is available exclusively to Super Users/Groups. Non-Super Users/Groups do not have the ability to open the Operations object.

The Operations Master service object list provides the ability to sort the list on any of the three columns, ascending or descending order. The order of the columns themselves can also be changed. Simply drag a column to its new desired location in the list.

Click on any plugin to select it. The Toolbar will become enabled with the necessary buttons.

Restart

Select this option from the toolbar to restart the selected service.

Edit

Click Edit to modify the selected plugins options.

Sync Reporting Data

Instead of waiting for the automatic Profile and RBA Audit data backup, click Synch Reporting Data to process reporting data right away. This button is only available when the ETLProcessor plugin is selected.

Refresh

Select refresh from the toolbar to update the plugins list.

Status legend

   A green marker indicates that the plugin is currently running and there are no problems.

   A yellow marker indicates that there is some problem with the plugin. The plugin may have either timed out or is not responding to requests. Select the problem plugin and click Restart to attempt to correct the issue with the plugin by reloading it.

   A red marker indicates that this plugin is not currently running. Select the problem plugin and click Restart to start the plugin.

ETLProcessor

The ETL processor plugin manages the data collection processes. This plugin is a service that is installed and started when Desktop Authority is installed. This service should run regardless of whether the Manager is running or not. It helps to collect data as users' login and out of the network. Many other user operations are also logged.

User and Computer Data are collected by Desktop Authority's Operations Master service and the ETLProcessor plugin. Data Collection can be configured for both the User and Computer in their respective Data Collection objects. Computer Management Data Collection can be configured for hardware, software, and USB/Port Security. User based Data Collection can be configured for login/logoff and lock/unlock events.

There are several configuration parameters available for this plugin. Click Edit to modify the plugin details.

Collection thread sleep time

Specify the amount of time (in minutes) for the data collection and processing threads wait after they finish. The default sleep time is set to 15. Allowable values can be between 1 and 60 minutes.

Profile and role-based access audit data backup

Specify the time of day for the configuration data to be processed and moved to the Reporting database. Once the data resides in the Reporting database it can be reported on. Database maintenance is also performed at this time (removing old records), which is based on the Retention period for database records setting. The default time is set to 4:00 AM.

The Operations Service recycle time is automatically configured to be 15 minutes prior to the time specified here.

Purge malformed XML file imports

Specify the number of days in which malformed collection data files can be purged. The default value is set to 10 days but may be changed to any value between 0 and 30 days.

Retention period for database records

Certain configuration data tables grow at a very fast rate. This necessitates the ability to purge older data from the system. The default retention period is set to 180 days. This may however be set to any value between 0 and 360 days.

Save

Click Save to commit all changes to the ETLProcessor plugin configurations.

Cancel

Click Cancel to go back to the last saved values of all ETLProcessor plugin configurations.

Operations Master service

This service is a background service that is used to manage and configure Desktop Authority's plugins. These plugins are used to perform specific operations such as audit data collection and the execution of scheduled reports.

User and Computer Data is collected by Desktop Authority's Operations Master service and the ETLProcessor plugin.

Data Collection can be configured for both the User and Computer in their respective Data Collection objects. Computer Management Data Collection can be configured for hardware, software and USB/Port Security. User based Data Collection can be configured for login/logoff and lock/unlock events.

Select the Operations Master Service plugin by clicking on it. When selected, its color will be highlighted. Click Edit to change the service credentials for this plugin, Enter the User name and password credentials. The User name must be entered in the form of Domain\Username.

ReportScheduler

The ReportScheduler plugin runs scheduled reports. This plugin runs every 10 minutes, by default, checking for reports to run. The timing interval may be changed in the Desktop Authority Setup tool.